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Justin Fairfax

Justin Edward Fairfax (born February 17, 1979) is an American politician and lawyer who has been serving since 2018 as the 41st Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. A member of the Democratic Party, he defeated Republican nominee Jill Vogel in the 2017 election. He is the second African American elected statewide, following Douglas Wilder. Fairfax moved with his family from Pittsburgh to Northeast Washington, D.C. when he was five years old. One of four children, Fairfax graduated from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he was senior class president. Fairfax then graduated from Duke University in 2000, with a degree in public policy. He was a briefing coordinator for Tipper Gore during the 2000 presidential campaign of Al Gore, in the campaign's Nashville, Tennessee office. Fairfax was also a staffer for Senator John Edwards of North Carolina, in the senator's Washington office.

Fairfax ran for public office for the first time in 2013, seeking the Democratic nomination for state attorney general.[7] He lost to Mark Herring, but surprised party insiders with his strong performance in the primary.[5] Herring defeated Fairfax by about 4,500 votes out of 141,600 cast[6] in a closer-than-expected race.[9]The Washington Post praised both candidates during the primary, but endorsed Fairfax, writing that he had displayed "an agile and impressive command of the issues with a prosecutor's passion for justice."[10]

Noting that Fairfax had been largely unknown when he ran for Attorney General four years earlier, The Washington Post wrote that Fairfax had transitioned from "party crasher" to "party insider" in the time since, having "methodically done the work necessary to raise his profile and pay dues."[5] The Washington Post went onto endorse Fairfax in the race, calling him "bright, competent, well-versed" and "the much better choice".[27]

Fairfax's opposition to the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines led to him being omitted from a small number of campaign flyers that were distributed by the campaign for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam. These flyers were released at the request of Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), which supports the pipeline - LIUNA had endorsed Northam (and Northam's running mate for Attorney General, Mark Herring, who was included on the flyer), but not Fairfax. As Fairfax is black, while Northam and Herring are both white, some activists criticized the Northam campaign's decision to accommodate LIUNA's request.[28][29] Fairfax responded to the controversy by saying, "This should not have happened, and it should not happen again, and there needs to be robust investment in making sure that we are communicating with African American voters and we are engaging our base."[29] The Fairfax campaign later remarked that the Democratic ticket was "working well together", adding "One piece of literature does not change that."[29] All houses that received the LIUNA flyers also received standard campaign flyers including Fairfax.[28][29]

In the final days of the campaign, former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder weighed in on the flyer controversy, saying that Fairfax had not "been dealt a good hand". Wilder endorsed Fairfax, but never endorsed Northam.[30][31] As the election drew to a close, Fairfax and Vogel aired attack ads against each other.[32]

Fairfax won the election by 5.5%.[33] He is only the second African-American in Virginia history to be elected to statewide office (the first being Douglas Wilder, who served as governor, as well as lieutenant governor).[34]

Tenure

The lieutenant governor's position is part-time.[7] Fairfax announced in December 2017 that he will be leaving his law firm, Venable. His law partner at Venable, Larry Roberts, served as his campaign chairman during the election and is currently serving as his chief of staff.[35] In September 2018, Fairfax joined the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, continuing the historic practice of Virginia lieutenant governors maintaining employment while in office.[36] Fairfax became the first head of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA), which was launched in August 2018.[37]

On January 19, 2019, Fairfax protested a tribute in the state Senate honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee's birthday.[38] "History repeats itself," Fairfax tweeted. "I will be stepping off the dais today in protest of the Virginia Senate honoring Robert E. Lee...I'll be thinking of this June 5, 1798 manumission document that freed my great-great-great grandfather Simon Fairfax from slavery in Virginia. #WeRiseTogether."[38]

Fairfax denied the accusation, saying his encounter with Tyson was consensual and the timing of the reports was intended to smear him; beginning February 1, after the discovery of a racist photo on Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook, there had been widespread calls for Northam to resign and let Fairfax become Governor of Virginia.[44] Fairfax also insinuated that supporters of Northam, or someone connected with Richmond mayor Levar Stoney, a potential political rival since both were speculated as possible Democratic candidates for governor in 2021, may have been behind the allegation going public.[45][46][47]

Tyson released a statement detailing her allegations, saying the encounter started as consensual kissing but ended with Fairfax forcing her to perform oral sex on him.[48][46] Tyson said she is a Democrat with no political agenda and felt compelled to release the statement because Fairfax "has tried to brand me as a liar to a national audience, in service to his political ambitions, and has threatened litigation."[49] In response, Fairfax issued a statement saying, "I wish her no harm or humiliation, nor do I seek to denigrate her or diminish her voice. But I cannot agree with a description of events that I know is not true."[49]NBC News reported that Fairfax used a misogynistic profanity to describe Tyson in a private staff meeting after the allegation came out, according to two sources in the meeting,[50][51][52] but Fairfax's chief of staff and policy director denied the report[50][53] and Fairfax demanded NBC and its reporters retract it.[54] After the story broke, Fairfax hired the same legal team that represented Brett Kavanaugh during his confirmation process, while Tyson hired the same legal team that represented Kavanaugh's accuser Christine Blasey Ford.[55][56][57] Virginia Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton tweeted her support for Tyson.[58]

On February 8, 2019, a second woman, Meredith Watson, came forward with sexual assault allegations against Fairfax, alleging that he raped her[59] in a "premeditated and aggressive" attack in 2000 when both were undergraduate students at Duke University.[60] A college friend of Watson stated she remembered Watson telling her about the assault the day after it happened.[43] Watson said she had been previously raped by a Duke basketball player, later identified as Corey Maggette, and brought the matter to the dean but was discouraged from pursuing the matter.[61] Watson's attorney said that Watson had one interaction with Fairfax after the alleged assault outside a campus party, during which Watson said "Why did you do it?" and reported Fairfax replied, "I knew that because of what happened to you last year, you’d be too afraid to say anything."[62] Watson's attorney said this showed Fairfax "used the prior rape of his 'friend' against her when he chose to rape her in a premeditated way."[63] Fairfax denied the second accusation, issuing a statement saying,

"I deny this latest unsubstantiated allegation. It is demonstrably false. I have never forced myself on anyone ever. I demand a full investigation into these unsubstantiated and false allegations. Such an investigation will confirm my account because I am telling the truth. I will clear my good name and I have nothing to hide. I have passed two full, field background checks by the FBI and run for office in two highly contested elections with nothing like this being raised before. It is obvious that a vicious and coordinated smear campaign is being orchestrated against me. I will not resign."[64][65]

The second allegation caused a wave of calls for Fairfax to resign from politicians including many Democrats in the General Assembly; most of Virginia's Democratic members of Congress, including Tim Kaine; former Governor Terry McAuliffe; and multiple nationally prominent Democrats, including several running for president in 2020.[60][43] Delegate Patrick Hope, also a Democrat, announced that he would introduce articles of impeachment against Fairfax within three days if Fairfax had not resigned.[66] The Virginia legislature's Black Caucus asked Fairfax to resign.[67] Hope backed off his plan to introduce articles of impeachment after fellow House Democrats said they were not prepared for the process, saying "additional conversations" were needed.[68] Tyson's lawyer has reached out to the Suffolk County, Massachusettsdistrict attorney to schedule a meeting to detail her allegations,[69] while a spokesman for Fairfax said he would be willing to cooperate with any probe and to "explore all options with regard to filing his own criminal complaint in response to the filing of a false criminal complaint against him."[70]

According to the Washington Post, after the allegations became public, Fairfax was placed on leave from his law firm, asked to step down from the board of visitors at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy, and left his post as chairman of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association.[70] Four of his staffers (two from his state office and two from his political action committee) quit in the wake of the allegations.[71]

Personal life

Other positions

Fairfax served as a Visitor of Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy from 2008 to 2014. He then returned in 2015.[78] On February 8, 2019, the school's Dean, Judith Kelley, asked Fairfax to step down.[79][80][81]

↑ "Editorial: And now, the push for single-payer". Richmond Times-Dispatch. September 13, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2018. Several leading contenders for the party’s presidential nomination have come out in favor of single-payer health care, and some Democratic skeptics are now coming around. Here in Virginia, lieutenant governor candidate Justin Fairfax has endorsed the idea.